Opener for sliding doors



Nev. 23, 1943.

P. A. ACKLEY OPENER FOR SLIDING DOORS Filed May 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. PERcY A ACKLEY,

to the users.

Patented Nov. 23, 1943 UNITED f zssgeei STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to power driven means for opening sliding doors and relates in particular to a power driven device of simple and economical construction which may be mounted within a relatively thin hollow wall of the door opening in which a sliding or rolling dooris operable.

My invention is especially suited for use in residences wherein it is now a long established practice to extensively employ swinging doors, hinged at one side so as to swing-when opened, into space adjacent the door within a room or hallway. Such door arrangement requires provision of space, in the arrangement of furniture, etc., into which the door may be swung, when opened. Likewise, swinging doors involve a constant element of danger inthat a person opening a door from one side may cause the door to strike a person standing on the other side of the door, this being expressly noticed in doors of the double swing type employed between a kitchen and an adjoining room. Architects, at the present time,

are seriously considering the useof sliding doors in residence construction, in view of the satisfactory manner in which the use of sliding doors solves the problems or corrects the undesirable conditions referred to in the first part of this paragraph. It is an object of my presentinvention to provide means whereby a sliding door may be opened and closed with complete safety That is to say, in the use ofmy invention, the power means of the device isemployed in such a manner that the force thereof can under no circumstances beapplied to injure a person or a part of a person. in the doorway during the closing movement ofithe door.

A further object of the invention is to provide adoor operating device wherein a power drive movable member engages the door orHa. projecting part thereon, only during the action of opening the door, permitting-if desired, the use of other means to close or open the door.

An object of the invention is to provide a power driven door opening device which will make engagement with a part of the door for the purpose of moving the door intoopen position, and will be disengaged from the door so that the door may be then closed as desired by hand.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door opening device for exertingon or applying to the door, a door opening force, other means being provided to apply to the door a closing force which is of just sufficient magnitude to move the door from open to closed position.

- A- iurther object of the invention is to provide a control means for, sliding doors havinga power vertical plane from a'positionto close ,a door opening to a position at one side, in, contradistinction to hinged doors.

Further objects and advantages of theinvention will be brought out in the following part of the specification.

Referring to the drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

. Fig-1 is a plan viewof a preferred embodiment of my invention.

' Fig..-.2 is an elevational view corresponding to Fig.1 and showing the upper portion of a sliding door incooperative relation to the device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional ,viewtaken as indicated by the;line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4, is an elevational view showing an alternative form; of my invention in association with the upper part of a sliding door.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the dooroperating mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross section taken on a plane indicated by the line 6--6 of Fig. 4.

The .sliding door operating device shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is essentially a self-contained unit which may be placed in a wall space above a sliding door. This unit includesan elongated frame In; havinga plate [2 which carries a motor I l,,which motor is perferably of the type having an attachedreduction gear unit 53 arranged to drive a pulleyv I4 whichgis. connected through a belt I5 with a driven pulley l6 fixed on a shaft I! which is carried atone end of the frame It and hasthereon. a pulley l8 disposed so as to rotate in .a vertical plane and in alignment with a pulley l9, disposed at the opposite end of the device.

The pulley I9 is carried by an adjustable support 20 having a pair of longitudinal bars2l which slide into openings 22 in a block 23 which forms the leftward end of the frame Iii. Springs24 are disposed around the bars 2|, and operate to urge thejs upports 20 in leftward direction so that the tion so that the lower run 26 of the belt 25 will travel leftward, or, in other words, in a direction to open a door.2l which is hung below the door operating device.

As shown in Fig. 3, the door 21 is hung from parallel tracks 28, which may be made of Wood, by means of two suspension units 29, each of which may comprise a central suspension plate 36, having a detachable bracket 3| at its lower end to be connected by means of screws to the upper end of the door 21. The upper portion of the suspension plate carries a lateral bronze bushing 32 arranged for the support of a pair of rubber rollers 33 to roll on the portions of the track members 28 adjacent the suspension plate 36. The track members 28 have longitudinal guide shoulders 34 placed as shown, whereby the wheels or rollers 33 will be guided in such a manner that the suspension plate 36 will be maintained centralized relative to the space between the track members 28 and, therefore, the upper edge'of the door 2! will be maintained centralized between the molding strips 35, which are employed to conceal the upper edge of the door 21.

The front suspension unit forthe door 27, in this instance the rightward suspension unit 29,

' has an upwardly projecting engagement element or post 36 adapted, when the door 21 is in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 2', to lie in the path of movement of a lug 31 carried by the belt 25, when the motor- II is operated to rotate the pulley IS in clockwise direction so that the lug 31 will be caused to move downward and then leftward toward the position of the lug 38. It will be perceived accordingly that the lug 3lwhen it is so moved, will engage thepost 36', and the movement of the lug 31, due to the travel of the belt 25 will be transmitted through the post 36 to the door 2! to move'the same from the leftward position in which it is shown in Fig. 2. Therefore, the lug 31 will carry the post 36 leftward into the position thereof indicated by dotted lines 56, at which time the lug 31 will move upwardly around the pulley l9, and will be disengaged from the post 36, leaving the door 21 in open position, from which open position the door 2! may be closed by any other suitable means, as, for example, by hand. Separate means for the closing of a door will be described in detail with relation to Figs. 4 and 5. a

i The motor II is connectable with conductors 46, leading to a source of current, by" the well known type of remotely controlled switch 4|, having an electromagnetic hold-in which releases or opens the switch when the hold-in circuit is broken. A start circuit 42 is connected with a suitable start switch placed conveniently to the door opening. The hold-in circuit 44 isequipped with a manually operated push button switch 45, whereby the hold-in circuit may be opened, and with a switch 46 having a lever 41 which projects into the path of movement of the lug 31, as such lug 31 move rightward and downwardlyground the pulley l8 into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2, whereby the lug 31 will displace the lever 41in the manner shown in Fig.2 so'as to'open the switch 46, which will result in automatically The traveler 25 consists of what is now opening the hold-in circuit and releasing the switch 4| so that the motor will be stopped with the lugs 31 and 38 in inactive position.

In the use of a belt 25, I achieve quietness of operation. A feature of the device, in addition to other features brought out herein, is the provision of a guide 48 for the lower run 26 to the vertical axes so that a belt 52 carried thereover,

will lie and move in a horizontal plane. This form of the device includes a frame 53 with chan nel belt guides 54 along both sides thereof. At one end of the frame 53 there is a bracket 55 supporting a shaft 56,.which has a sheave 51 on its upper end, and has fixed to its lower end the pulley 50. On the opposite end of the frame 53 there is a block 58 having openings 59 which receive the parallel guide, bars 6!) of a pulley support6| whichis constantly urged outward so as to maintain the belt taut bysprings 62.

A motor drive unit 63 has a pulley 64 connected to the sheave 5'| by a belt 65. It will be understood that any type of suitable switch control may be employed with the motor 63. In Fig. 5 I have shown a, stop switch 66 having a contact member 6] arranged to be engaged by a lug 68 mounted on the belt 52,

, A door 69 is shown in Fig. 4 in operative posi tion beneath the device; The door 69 has an engageable part comprising an upwardly projecting: post 10 positioned so as to be engaged by an engager 1| supported by an arm 12 which projects inward from the lug 68 through a distance substantially, equal to the distance of the lug from the center of the pulley 50 so that the engager 1| will be-positioned on the axis of the pulley 50 when the lug 68, is contiguous to the pulley, and will at all times lie, in a vertical plane defined by the axes of the pulleys 50 and 5|. Accordingly, when the motor 63 drives the belt 52, the ,engager U will move along a horizontal path above the upper edge of the door 69, and when travel of the'belt- 62 move the engager leftward from the position in which it is shown in full lines in Fig..4,.the engager. 1| will come into engagement with the post 10 and will then move the post 10 and the door 69 leftward, and when the lug 68 engages the lever 61' of the stop switch 66', the motor 63will be stopped with the engager 1| in a position on the axis of the pulley 5|, to hold the door 69 in open position.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a door closingmeans arranged to yieldably exert a door closing force, such means comprising a weight 15 connected to the door 69 by a cable 76 which run over a sheave 71. After the door 69 has been opened by the device in the manner above described, the motor 63 may be again actuated so as to cause the engager or pusher H to move from its position under the sheave -5| to its initial position shown in full lines in Fig. 4, below the sheave 50. As the engager 1| moves rightward at constant speed, under control ofthemotor, the force exerted by the Weight '15 through the cable is will tend to move the door-69 rightward and will hold the post 10 in engagement with the engager 1|,

with the result that the door 69 will pass through a closing movement, but the rate of the movement of the door will be controlled by the movement of the engager H. Should there be an object, such as a bodily part, in the path of movement of the door 69, as the movement of the engager 'Il permits a closing movement of the door by the weight 15, the door 69 will be brought to rest and no pressure will be brought against the bodily part to injure the same, other than the small pressure resulting from the weight 15, there being no connection between the engager H and the post whereby force from themotor 63 may be transmitted to the door during its closing movement.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a sliding door operating device adapted to be mounted adjacent a horizontal edge of said door, the combination of a support carrying spaced pulley means; a loop-shaped traveler carried by said pulley means; power means to selectively move said traveler through a cycle of operation; and an engager on said traveler for engagement with a part on said door whereby said door will be moved in a selected direction by movement of said traveler, said engager comprising an arm having one end thereof rigidly connected to said traveler and extending toward the plane defined by the axes of said pulley means, the other end of said arm being prepared for engagement with said part on said door.

2. In a sliding door operating device adapted to be mounted adjacent a horizontal edge of said door, the combination of: a support carrying spaced pulley means so that they will rotate on substantially vertical axis; a loop-shaped traveler carried by said pulley means; power means to selectively move said traveler through a cycle oi! operation; and an engager on said traveler for engagement with a part on said door whereby said door will be moved in a selected direction by movement of said traveler, said engager comprising an arm having one end thereof rigidly connected to said traveler and extending toward the plane defined by the axes of said pulley means, the other end of said arm being prepared for engagement with said part on said door.

3. In a sliding door operating device adapted to be mounted adjacent a horizontal edge of said door, the combination of a support carrying spaced pulley means so that they will rotate on substantially vertical axis; a loop-shaped traveler carried by said pulley means; power means to selectively move said traveler through a loopshaped cycle of operation; an engager on said traveler for engagement with a part on said door whereby said door will be moved in a selected direction by movement of said traveler, said engager comprising an arm having one end thereof rigidly connected to said traveler and extending toward the plane defined by the axes of said pulley means, the other end of said arm being prepared for engagement with said part on said door; control means operative to start the operation of said power means; and stop means engageable by a part of said traveler to stop said power means when said traveler reaches the end of its cycle of movement.

4. In a sliding door operating device adapted to be mounted adjacent a horizontal edge of said door, the combination of: a 'support carrying spaced pulley means so that they will rotate on substantially vertical axis; a loop-shaped traveler carried by said pulley means; power means to selectively move said traveler through a loopshaped cycle of operation; an engager on said traveler for engagement with a part on said door whereby said door will be moved in a selected direction by movement of said traveler, said engager comprising an arm having one end thereof rigidly connected to said traveler and extending toward the plane defined by the axes of said pulley means, the other end of said arm being prepared for engagement with said part on said door; control means operative to start the operation of said power means; and stop means engageable by a part of said traveler to stop said power means when said traveler reaches the end of its cycle of movement, said stop means comprising a stop switch placed adjacent the path of movement of said traveler around one of said pulley means and so as to be engaged by said engager as it travels around said pulley means.

5. In a sliding door operating device adapted to be mounted adjacent a horizontal edge of said door, the combination of: a support carrying spaced pulley means; a loop-shaped traveler carried by said pulley means; power means to selectively move said traveler through a cycle of operation; and an engager on said traveler for engagement with a part on said door whereby said door will be moved in a selected direction by movement of said traveler, said engager comprising an arm having one end thereof rigidly connected to said traveler and extending toward the plane defined by the axes of said pulley means, the other end of said arm being positioned so that it will lie continuously in said plane throughout movement of said engager by said traveler and being prepared for engagement with said part on said door.

PERCY A. ACKLEY. 

